At 13, Gassanoff caught an old runway show by John Galliano being aired on a local TV station. Five years later, he moved to Milan to study fashion. He launched Institution after stepping away from his first label, Act No. 1, which he co-founded with the designer Luca Lin. “I felt the need to slow down and take a different path, one more solitary and more personal,” he says. With his new venture, in addition to demonstrating a daring approach to materiality, he’s reinterpreting traditional Azerbaijani garments and spotlighting the vanishing crafts of his homeland. His spring 2026 collection saw jackets with nipped-in waists that were inspired by chepkens (a centuries-old staple of men’s outerwear, with fitted bodies and decorative false sleeves), paired with full skirts made of woven bulrush. Gassanoff also collaborated with carpet weavers from Georgia’s Borchaly region on hand-knotted and fringed pieces. In another attempt to make the past present, he’ll show his new collection on Feb. 27 at Milan’s historic thermal baths.